90 



not European. The attention is fixed on so great 

 a number of objects, that he can scarcely define 

 the impression he receives. At every step he 

 thinks he discovers some new production ; and 

 in this tumultuous state of mind he does not re- 

 collect those which are most common in our 

 botanical gardens, and collections of natural his- 

 tory. At two hundred yards from the coast, 

 we saw a man fishing with a line. We steered 

 towards him, but he took fright, and hid him- 

 self behind a rock. The sailors brought him 

 back with difficulty. The sight of the sloop, 

 the fire of the cannon in so solitary a place, 

 though sometimes visited by Barbary corsairs, 

 and the landing of the crew, had frightened this 

 poor man. He informed us, that the small 

 island of Graciosa, on which we had just land- 

 ed, was separated from Lanzerota by a narrow 

 channel called El Rio. He offered to conduct 

 us to the port of Los Colorados, to get inform- 

 ation respecting the blockade of Teneriffe, but as 

 he assured us at the same time, that he had not 

 seen any vessel for some weeks on the seas, the 

 captain resolved to pursue his course to Santa 

 Cruz. 



The small part of the island of Graciosa, which 

 we traversed, resembles those promontories of 

 lava, which we see near Naples, between Portici 

 and Torre del Greco. The rocks are naked, with 

 no marks of vegetation, and scarcely any of ve- 



